Friday, May 23, 2014

Kloster Maria Hilf

I am in Germany to exhibit my work at Nadelwelt Karlsruhe from 23-25 May.It looks like there is some terrific work being shown and there is a large variety of shops. We have to provide out own accommodations which is not always the case when you are an invited artist so initially I was thinking I would camp. Then I found Kloster Maria Hilf which is about 45 minutes from Karlsruhe ( I am Australian so driving 45 minutes is nothing in the big picture). What a delightful place. It is a convent founded by Mother Alfons Maria Eppinger in 1849 though most of the buildings are reasonably modern and you can stay there a night or longer and the prices are very reasonable particularly if you are prepared to share a toilet and bathroom. It also looks to me like it could be a fabulous place for a textile retreat! Anyone interested?

The inner courtyard of the building I am staying in- that is a fabulous walnut tree in the centre, and various other "shrubberies" . I keep on thinking Monty Python and Knights Of Nee though in actual fact that was a Pythonesque take on a Shakespearean quote in Hamlet- "Get thee to a nunnery"

Pine cones strewn on the little road accessing the complex

A poppy in a small field left to go fallow and filled with all sorts of flowers. And some currents- I am suspecting these are white currents.

A path in the garden and the oldest part of the kloster with the church behind.

And the beautiful colours in this foliage!

It is kind of fitting that I should find myself accommodated in a convent after all the medieval religious art I have been looking at- though foremost in my mind is the word "medieval"- it was just that in those times art was commissioned by the church and anything textile related to creating tapestries or embroidery for clothing.

Kloster Maria Hilf has the most fabulous kitchen garden, with a great variety of fruit and also hot houses for vegetables , and at breakfast all their jams looked as if they were home made.

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ABOUT ME

I am a Textile Artist and itinerant at the moment. My base at present is in Gellibrand though I teach around the world. I love to dye and print fabrics and assemble them into quilts with lots of stitching both by hand and machine. I also create my own linocuts for printing on fabric.